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Monday, May 24, 2010

Barb's Race Training Week 10--Part 2

This post should be titled something like The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. (The Good = completing the swim; The Bad = Cold/Wet conditions; The Ugly = failed bike ride + long ass trainer session)

Friday: Unscheduled Rest DayIt was pouring and I was tired and I really didn't want to run in the monsoon. Instead Mr. Pi and I tidied up, went grocery shopping and spent the evening just hanging out (a rarity around here).

Saturday: 8 milesMy GPS was having issues so I used app for the iPhone called RunMeter. It's a GPS program that tracks pretty much the same stuff that the Garmin tracks. Sadly, since it was on the phone and the phone was on my arm, I didn't pause for stoplights or tying my shoe or stretching at the half way point. Oh well. Time was better than last week but still pretty slow, I'm definitely feeling some of the volume. 8 miles/1:35/11:52 AP

Late afternoon Kristen arrived, yay! She's just as fun and outgoing as she seems on the blog. We went to a fun dinner at a local brew pub and came home and just chatted away. I was actually surprised I didn't have a sore throat from all the talking on Sunday morning.

Sunday: Swim, Bike, Run ?We got up and starting packing our stuff pretty early as we were going out to Hagg Lake for our open water swim.

We kept laughing about how small her bike looked next to mine.

The clouds looked pretty threatening but we loaded up the bikes too. When we got out to Hagg, we were both surprised at the amount of people doing the swim. It was crazy!

Brrr, this is the "what were we thinking" moment

We picked up our caps and got marked, went to the bathroom and put on our wetsuits. The 800 group had just left so we waited around a little while before getting in to warm up. If you remember, I swam briefly in the lake last week and found it quite refreshing. What I had forgotten was that the outside temperature was well into the 70's and I had been biking for nearly 4 hours. Not so much this morning. It was windy, cold, with bursts of rain and I it was NOT warm. I figured it might make me swim faster right?

Not too much longer we were off. We started mid-back of the pack. I need to figure this out because I spent the first two buoys in a cluster. So much so that I'd get freaked out, swallow water and stop to cough. It wasn't until the third buoy where things started to spread out and I had some open water. I stayed pretty far wide to ensure I'd be alone which probably meant that I swam extra but whatever I don't care. When I rounded the last buoy on the "out" portion, I knew I could kick it up a notch. Another thing I need to figure out is how much to push myself--I was somewhere in between a super easy peasy pace and a cruise pace. Anyway on the stretch back to shore, I passed a bunch of people. I kicked it up because I still had lots of energy and everyone else was slowing down or stopping. Anyway, I exited the water in about 40 minutes. This is by no means fast but it was such a confidence boost to know I can go the distance and not come in last. (Kristen came in right behind me.)

Damn it was COLD!

At this point we were freezing. I literally couldn't feel my feet or my fingers. We took off our wet stuff put on towels and sat in the car blasting the heater.

Trying to get warm.

It started pouring and Kristen so aptly said "I'm out." Meaning no hilly bike ride in the POURING rain. I agreed and we decided to have a trainer party instead. We stopped for coffee in Hillsboro and the sun was actually out so we said what the hay let's give it a go. Seriously not 2 miles in, it POURED! Pour Kristen ended up with really bad stomach cramps about 5 miles in so we stopped for a short break in the rain. It wasn't getting better for her so I hauled ass back to the car to rescue her. Literally, I racked the bike and drove back to her in my bike shoes and helmet.

We got back to my place, I gave her some meds and she took off for home. I felt horrible for her and was hoping she got back okay (SHE DID).

I had to then decide what I wanted to do. I decided to bite the bullet and ride the trainer. We'd gone about 7 miles already so I decided 2:30 on the trainer would bring me to about 35 miles (guestimating a 14 MPH pace) and adding the 7 we had already done, that would be over 40 and I'd call it good. I put on a DVD and just rode. I tried to count my cadence every 10 minutes to see where I was and I alternated between the big chain and small chain every 20 minutes. It was brutal but it got done. (Portland weather please improve I CANNOT do anymore long ass trainer rides, I just can't!)

I texted Jen about my day and she asked if I wanted to go to Yoga. I said sure so at 7:00 pm I got my zen on and stretched out my tired muscles.

All in all, it wasn't the weekend I wanted but I survived and a new confidence in open water swimming, I learned some lessons and have a few things I need to work on.

I am officially half way through my training plan and I definitely feel stronger. The next 10 weeks are going to be hard but I'm ready to face them!